diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index eb79d2af9de6061aade5d7f6d36f990305b7e5bc..ea7b697bcf6ce2c9471aeb703416e83e3ba39af6 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -901,13 +901,17 @@ static inline void add_to_free_list_tail(struct page *page, struct zone *zone,
 	area->nr_free++;
 }
 
-/* Used for pages which are on another list */
+/*
+ * Used for pages which are on another list. Move the pages to the tail
+ * of the list - so the moved pages won't immediately be considered for
+ * allocation again (e.g., optimization for memory onlining).
+ */
 static inline void move_to_free_list(struct page *page, struct zone *zone,
 				     unsigned int order, int migratetype)
 {
 	struct free_area *area = &zone->free_area[order];
 
-	list_move(&page->lru, &area->free_list[migratetype]);
+	list_move_tail(&page->lru, &area->free_list[migratetype]);
 }
 
 static inline void del_page_from_free_list(struct page *page, struct zone *zone,
@@ -2340,7 +2344,7 @@ static inline struct page *__rmqueue_cma_fallback(struct zone *zone,
 #endif
 
 /*
- * Move the free pages in a range to the free lists of the requested type.
+ * Move the free pages in a range to the freelist tail of the requested type.
  * Note that start_page and end_pages are not aligned on a pageblock
  * boundary. If alignment is required, use move_freepages_block()
  */
diff --git a/mm/page_isolation.c b/mm/page_isolation.c
index abfe26ad59fd0504de6712e2f57f095667e0da69..83692b93778465c97696077c966e82116a27b45c 100644
--- a/mm/page_isolation.c
+++ b/mm/page_isolation.c
@@ -106,6 +106,11 @@ static void unset_migratetype_isolate(struct page *page, unsigned migratetype)
 	 * If we isolate freepage with more than pageblock_order, there
 	 * should be no freepage in the range, so we could avoid costly
 	 * pageblock scanning for freepage moving.
+	 *
+	 * We didn't actually touch any of the isolated pages, so place them
+	 * to the tail of the freelist. This is an optimization for memory
+	 * onlining - just onlined memory won't immediately be considered for
+	 * allocation.
 	 */
 	if (!isolated_page) {
 		nr_pages = move_freepages_block(zone, page, migratetype, NULL);